In a typical assembly process, a number of different component parts are assembled and tested in various stages at different work stations. For complex products which may contain thousands of pieces, it can become exceptionally difficult to monitor the work flow process during the several assembly stages. Additionally, different products and even different assembly steps may have different levels of priority for completion. Further, the shop floor supervisor must ensure that the different sub-assemblies which make up a final product arrive at the proper work station at a specific time and that such sub-assemblies have gone through all required stages.
Prior art systems have attempted to monitor the assembly process through complex computer systems. Two exemplary systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,898 to Borg et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,000 to Lilly et al. Each of these systems includes complicated and thus expensive programming instructions. Additionally, the shop floor supervisor must have the necessary computer skills to run the program.
Other prior art systems have provided complex automated systems, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,783 to Johnstone et al. Johnstone et al. discloses a supervisory control computer system which supervises a plurality of numerically controlled machine tools positioned about the perimeter of a track which carries pallet-carrying transporters. The supervisory control computer system also supervises the transporters to initiate movement of a transporter to a machine tool. It is readily apparent that such a system is highly expensive to both build and maintain and requires a shop floor supervisor skilled in computer systems.
Thus, a need exists to accurately and inexpensively monitor the simultaneous assembly and testing of different products.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that allows a system operator to efficiently monitor the simultaneous assembly, testing, and final inspection of products.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus that monitors the assembling of a product is provided which includes a plurality of kits, wherein each kit contains a plurality of parts to be assembled together to form a product. The apparatus further includes a plurality of cue cards with each card having a status indicator corresponding to the assembly progress of a particular kit. A display device is further provided to visually display the plurality of cue cards.
The status indicator of each cue card can indicate to load the parts into the kits, that the parts are ready to be assembled, that the parts are being assembled, and that the parts in the kit are assembled. A movable indicator, such as a pin, is movable between the status positions to visually indicate the same. The cue card further includes a priority level indicator that corresponds to the priority level of a particular kit. The priority level indicator can include a pin slidable within a slot in the cue card positionable within five different positions which correspond to a high priority (first position) to a low priority (fifth position).
The cue card further includes a visual work indicator, for example, a colored strip of material. This indicator can indicate that the kit is overdue or the kit is ready to begin assembly. The cue card further includes a piece part and assembly number and a description of the same.
Preferably, the kits are assembled at various work stations positioned on a shop floor. Each work station includes a visual indicator, such as a colored sign, and the cue card includes a work station indicator, such as a strip of colored material the same color as the sign.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the display device is organized such that cue cards are positioned in rows corresponding to a particular work station.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a cue card corresponding to the cue card visually displayed on display device is removably fastened to the kit positioned at each work station.